The Curse of the Welshman
by Ray by Another Name
Summary: Arthur just had to go and fall in love with the worst possible person. Or the best. Depending on who's judging. Either way, Arthur's in trouble. Rated T. Exists in the same universe as The Lady and Her Lion. The Merlin/Arthur main fic for my series, The Pendragon Dilemma.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur just had to go and fall in love with the worst possible person. Or the best. Depending on who's judging. Either way, Arthur's in trouble.

Rated T. Exists in the same universe as The Lady and Her Lion.

This chapter has scenes from a few of my Merlin one-shots as I compiled and editing to create the start of this chapter fic. Chapters after this one are all new writing though.

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**Chapter One**

Morgana was always late – twenty minutes, almost to the second. Arthur was well-versed in Morgana Standard Time though, so he compensated. He arrived fifteen minutes late to the restaurant so as to keep the alone time with his father to as short as possible. Uther was already there, of course, his strong jaw and wrinkled brow schooled into his polite face - reserved for the House of Lords and his son.

After fifteen more minutes Arthur started to consider drowning himself in the soup the server had brought for the table. Uther had spent most of the time ranting about Arthur's grades, because taking a double course load wasn't enough; he also had to ace everything. How dare he get a B in the Chaucer class Uther hadn't wanted him to take in the first place?! The nerve!

His father was an imposing man with enough political experience to keep every criticism sounding constructive or well-meaning. Arthur had enough experience with the graying wrinkle to know that ever word was meant to cut him down.

Morgana appeared just as Arthur's ideations had turned to the butter knife and Uther had begun comparing the inevitable uselessness of literature classes to the endless possibilities of mathematics.

"Please tell me you haven't been talking about this the whole time?" Morgana asked as she moved around the table to kiss Uther on the cheek "Really, Daddy, he's about to start his third year with degrees in Political Science and Business. One B isn't making any kind of difference long term."

Uther scoffed as Morgana took her seat, "Yes, well, only because it's in some frou-frou English class rather than something important." Arthur met Morgana's eyes, begging for her to change the subject. Any other subject was better than this.

"Let's talk about something vastly more interesting!" Morgana winked at her brother, painted lips turning up into a smirk, "Me." She slipped her napkin into her lap as the water came over to dish out her soup.

Arthur shook his head, amused, and a little jealous. Uther smiled at Morgana as if she hung the moon with each word. Even when she was just ordering an entrée. Arthur ripped his bread apart to dip into his soup.

"Go on, then," Uther gestured towards Morgana with his glass of wine. He sat back in his chair expectantly. His mood entirely changed from before. The dominance Uther demanded in every conversation melted away under Morgana's smiles and laughs.

Morgana sat tall in her chair, "I was in a call with my agent. She's got me a job working for a modeling company right here in London." Arthur perked up.

"So you'll be returning?" Uther looked pleased, a rare genuine smile spreading across his taut face. This was likely one of the only subjects that father and son were ever going to agree upon. Morgana back in London could only be good. "Staying at home?" Morgana nodded. Not that she had much choice. Arthur knew his father would never be ok with his daughter living in the city by herself, or, worse, with a man.

"A friend of mine even found a lovely studio space for me to check out this week," Morgana continued to explain as they ate. She kept her tone even, professional.  
Arthur grinned to himself around his spoon. There was no doubt in his mind that Leon was the so-called friend and that the studio was near his Primrose Hill apartment. Morgana always knew how to spin things with their father.

"I'll probably keep some things at the studio though. The house would be a bit far for early morning shoots. I hate getting up before dawn." Morgana didn't even look up from her soup, utterly nonchalant, and Uther just nodded his understanding.  
And just like that, his sister was living with her boyfriend.

Arthur held in his snarky comments till after dinner, when their father had taken a car back to his office for a few things before returning home. Morgana followed Arthur to his car for a ride back to her 'hotel.' Or so she told their father.

"Some things at the studio?" Arthur nudged Morgana when they were both seated in the privacy of his sedan.

Morgana smirked, "Yes, some." She was giggling.

Arthur laughed, ducking his head as Morgana swatted at him. Primrose Hill was only a short drive from the restaurant in Hyde Park, but traffic always made it feel longer. Neither of the siblings minded.

"So," Morgana looked at Arthur expectantly as they stopped at a light, "What classes are you taking this year?"

Arthur groaned, flinging his head back against his seat. After the conversation with his father Arthur was loath to think about the coming year. Morgana had managed to keep the conversation centered at dinner entirely on her move to London. Now, he was paying for that distraction.

"Lots of poly sci classes, totally boring. A few business, more boring. A math class that Uther shoved at me last week, even more boring." It was shaping up to be the worst semester of his academic career.

"Anything not boring?" Morgana prodded with her elbows, an encouraging smile on her lips, "Anything in English?"

"I managed to squeeze in a Shakespeare class without him noticing. That's all though." Arthur tightened his hold on the steering wheel, biting back a less than appreciative remark.

Morgana smiled brighter at him, "That's wonderful!" She squeezed his arm affectionately, "You'll be some famous author before you know it. Living the low life in a tiny apartment."

"Doubtful," Arthur said, far less enthused than Morgana, "You know Uther'll never let that happen. He's had my life planned out for me since before you were born. And you heard him, English is worthless, I'll never be able to take enough classes to actually learn anything."

The car came to a sudden stop in front of Leon's building. Arthur kept his eyes straight ahead and his jaw tight. Morgana unbuckled her seat belt and reached over to force his head towards her.

She forced his eyes to look at hers, "Let me worry about Uther. I'll work on him."

"This isn't like you and your photography, 'Ana. I can't even walk into a room right with Uther. I'm just cur–."

"Don't even think of finishing that statement," Morgana interrupted him, her voice low, and Arthur looked away again.

They sat in silence for a few moments until a car behind them started honking.

"I'm in London now," Morgana forced his chin back to face her again, "I'm very effective in person. Let me try to convince him."

Arthur smiled, "It'll be nice to have you close again." It would. Life was always more manageable when his big sister could swoop in to save him from the bullies and the villains.

Morgana kissed the top of his head, "Big sister will handle everything!" Arthur laughed as she let him go to climb out of the car. She ducked her head back in, "You work on being happy ok? Becoming that starving artist you've always wanted to be."

Arthur nodded and she walked away. He drove off. He trusted Morgana, more than anyone else in the world, but even she wasn't a miracle worker.

-.-.-.-

School started the next day and Arthur was taking more than twice the recommended credit load – only permitted by the school because his father wanted it to be. The year was going to be pure hell, he'd probably only be able to read half of his reading for the Shakespeare class – the only one he actually wanted to take. The rest of his time would be spent on subjects that, on a good day, made Arthur want to take a six-hour nap.

Monday morning, though, he was up, bright and early. He had Managerial Economics first thing, then Corporate Finance at ten. He managed to eat a banana while crossing campus for some poly sci class about international relations. He kept his attention on it just long enough to get the impression that he was going to hate it.

Arthur had all of five minutes to grab coffee from a cart before his next class, some other poly sci class he hadn't bothered to remember the name of. He had two more tomorrow, along with the blessed break of Shakespeare before the damned calculus class his father had decided he should take.

Not that he actually needed such an advanced math for either of his degrees, no, Uther just wanted to torture his son. Arthur was positive of this. The longer he thought of it, the angrier he got.

"You should eat some chocolate," a man standing behind him drew Arthur out of his negative thoughts. Arthur turned around to take in the lanky man – he had dark hair and bright eyes. He looked overly-skinny and he had large ears, but he was cute in that lost puppy way that Arthur really liked.

"Excuse me?" Arthur said, without stuttering - thank you very much.

The man shrugged, "It's only the first day and you look like you're about to down six cups of coffee and go on a murderous rampage. Possibly due to a caffeine overload, if the can of Red Bull sticking out of your bag is anything to go by." He continued after a minuscule breath. "I'd rather not get caught get in said rampage. So, chocolate. Chocolate makes everything better, Professor Lupin says so."

The man was a bit odd, obviously, but his voice was like chocolate to Arthur's ears. He had an accent. The kind that made orchestras and poets jealous at the kind of peace they brought to a man's soul. Arthur smiled at him, a laugh stuck in his throat. The accent was great. Not make-up-for-this-shitty-day great, but close.

He imagined most foreigners wouldn't recognize the difference between the various English accents, but Arthur could. He was positive it was a Welshman's accent. Welsh! Uther hated Welshmen, for reasons Arthur had never been able to figure out. Maybe that's why Arthur liked the accent so much. Rebellion

This man was literally every kind of bad for him. Handsome, bright smile, kind voice. He must have done something really bad in a past life to deserve this kind of karma.

"You're next," the man pointed behind Arthur, the queue had moved up. Arthur ordered his coffee (large, black, two shots of espresso) and started walking away without saying anything more to the man behind him. Arthur looked over his shoulder as he left to watch the man order a chai tea.

Very, very bad karma.

-.-.-.-

Arthur was never as happy to enter a classroom as he was this one. The poly sci class he'd just finished was taught by a very opinionated ranter who was definitely not a fan of the Tories or his father. And despite Arthur's usual efforts – a seat on the edge of a middle row towards the back and a book on his desk on top of his notebook – the professor had seen his name on the roll and immediately pinned him down with rhetorical questions. Because apparently it was his fault his father was ruining the country for the every man?

This class though, Arthur expected to enjoy – he had loved Shakespeare since Morgana had read him A Midsummer Night's Dream as a child – so he took a seat on the edge of the front row. Once seated he pulled out his agenda, already loaded up with homework assignments from his other classes, and set to work squeezing the reading assignments in underneath the ones from his previous six courses.

This Shakespeare class and his later Calc class were only once a week, so Arthur was hoping he could manage all the assignments for both on Monday nights after his last lecture. He could do the Wednesday work on Tuesday night after Calc.

Arthur was already scowling at the agenda, seminars like this were notorious for their reading assignments and the syllabus was certainly holding up to such expectations. If the Calc homework took too long there was no way he'd be able to do both. He was contemplating rearranging the readings to do a little at a time. There were plenty of audio books of Shakespeare's work, so those bits he could do while driving or walking to and from class

The smack of a candy bar landing on the desk in front of him pulled Arthur from his planning. He blinked at the chocolate nugget bar, realizing that it had missing his nose by only millimeters.

"Eat. You'll feel better."

Arthur looked up to find the overly attractive Welshman from the day before standing in front of him. The bright red scarf brought his attention to the man's smirk.  
Arthur's mouth hung open as he looked back and forth between the bar of chocolate – his favorite actually – and the man who had just quoted The Prisoner of Azkaban at him. "Thanks," Arthur finally managed. The man nodded, his smirk fading into a light smile before he shuffled past Arthur to sit a few rows back.

Of course the most attractive man Arthur had ever seen was in this class. Quoting his favorite film! Uther had told him he was cursed, this was just further proof.

Still. The class proved to be the ticket to Arthur's happy place. The professor had gone through the syllabus quite hurriedly, highlighting which reading he considered most relevant for the weekly discussion and informing them that half their grade was monthly papers on the readings and the rest would be a term paper discussing the modern literary value of their choice of Shakespeare's work.

Monthly papers! Not weekly, monthly! Arthur could manage that. He was practically giddy by the end of the lecture. The professor had spent most of it on the modern relevancy of Shakespeare, one of Arthur's favorite topics. With his brain high on happiness Arthur looked behind him.

He spotted the Welshman – Merlin Emrys according to roll – as he slowly packed up his things. The lanky fellow was stretching near his own desk, making his blue hoodie rise up slightly to reveal heavily freckles skin. He looked to have woken up from a nap by the grumpy and groggy expression on his face. His dark haired was mussed up around his face.

Arthur gulped and moved towards the man, trying to lift a friendly smile to his face. "Two hours of Shakespeare and now you're the one who needs chocolate."

"Definitely." Merlin groaned, pulling out a packet of M&Ms from his backpack as he walked towards him. They fell into step together leaving the lecture hall. Merlin smiled at him as they turned in the same direction. Even offered up some of his candy. Arthur felt a fresh wave of nerves come over him. The high from Shakespeare was coming down.

"Do you have a class here as well?" Arthur ventured as they walked up the steps of the math building.

"Advance Calc," Merlin kept smiling at him, "I'm a Chem major." Arthur nodded, the wave of nerves nearly tsunami-like at this point. His brain didn't even question why a Chem major was taking an upper-level Shakespeare seminar.

Instead he was entirely focused on the possibility that he could have two classes with the attractive stranger who carried chocolate around in bulk and smiled like it was the easiest thing in the world. Arthur could not be that unlucky. He just couldn't.

But he was.

They walked into the same room and sat next to each other in the second row. It wasn't overly awkward really. Well, yes it was, but only on Arthur's part he was sure. Merlin seemed relaxed, almost excited. Arthur was wondering whether the fall from the classroom window would be high enough to kill him immediately or if he would slowly suffer from internal bleeding.

The syllabus showed there to be extensive reading and a worksheet due for every session. It was hours of work. Hours. He barely managed to fit the page numbers in with the author name beside the ones for his Shakespeare course.

The actual math, even when explained thoroughly by the professor, was above Arthur's head. Way above. Atmospherically above.

At least it focused him away from the man beside him. The one who was solving the equations as they were written on the board.

-.-.-

Two more weeks into the semester Merlin pulled him to the side after math. He fidgeted slightly as they stood in front of the building in the fading light of evening, "Are you any good at English?"

"Very," Arthur spoke without thinking. His mind was slightly preoccupied bouncing between the Econ paper he had to finish in the next three hours and the way the sunset reflected in Merlin's brown eyes. It made them shimmer like gold melted down, swimming around an ashen pupil.

"Well, I'm pretty sucky at it," Merlin tilted his head slightly and Arthur's focused snapped back into place, "Do you think you could help?" His hesitance must have shown on his face, because Merlin was quick to add on, "I could work with you on the math? I know you've been a bit lost during these two sessions?"

Arthur blushed – both from embarrassment that his lack of math skills was so transparent and because Merlin looked really cute when he was fretting. It was a bad idea – a very bad idea.

He needed the help though. He'd asked Leon, but the math was beyond anything he had studied. No one else he knew was likely to have any better luck explaining the concepts and equations.

But Merlin was his type. Exactly his type. The type he could write sonnets and elegies about, if he ever had the time. And Uther wasn't so clueless as Morgana treated him.

Arthur had managed to keep himself firmly in the closet so far though. And Morgana would help him if Uther got suspicious. And he'd get to spend time with an attractive, and apparently intelligent, man who was going to explain the math to him using his equally attractive accent.

"Ok," Arthur nodded his head, "You've got a deal." It was still a very, very bad idea.

Merlin broke out into a megawatt smile that had warmth spreading through Arthur's body like only coffee could. They talked times as they began walking across campus towards Merlin's dorm. Settling on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights before Arthur asked about the accent.

Apparently Arthur had been right. Merlin was from Wales. He'd even been taught Welsh as a child by his father. "It's technically my first language," Merlin offered up when he saw Arthur's shocked face, "I learned English alongside it, of course, but we speak Welsh predominately in my home. My father even writes in it most of the time."

There it was. Arthur had somehow managed to find the most Welsh man in all of England. Probably. His father would kill him just for that, let alone the gay thing. "What does he write?" Arthur asked. If the sword was going to loom over his head anyway, he might as well sit on the throne.

Merlin chuckled, "Everything?" He shuffled his feet a bit as the finally stopped in front of the dorm, "Lately, I think he's been writing children's books. Turning old legends into fairy tales."

"That sounds amazing," Arthur breathed the words, his head turning at the very idea. The smile that had been perpetually glued to Merlin's face grew small at those words.

"We could meet at the library?" Merlin suggested, rocking back on his feet and straightening his back.

Arthur shook his head. "Not a fan. No coffee nearby," his nose scrunched up at the very thought, " I have an apartment not far from campus. Would that be ok?" Merlin agreed and handed Arthur his phone to swap numbers. Arthur reciprocated.

The smiled returned as Merlin walked into his dorm, waving over his shoulder. The sun was finishing it's setting just behind the building. Even with the lights of the city coming on around them, there was a glow. Merlin was walking into the light, into the future, into hope.

On the walk to his apartment Arthur felt the darkness creeping in around him more than usual. He reviewed the entire conversation, every word he spoke, every action he took. He tore each apart like he had the bread for his soup only two days ago.

He leaned his head back against his door once in his apartment and took a deep breath, "Shit."

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Thanks for reading! Reviews Appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur just had to go and fall in love with the worst possible person. Or the best. Depending on who's judging. Either way, Arthur's in trouble.

Rated T. Exists in the same universe as The Lady and Her Lion.

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**Chapter Two**

Arthur had started worrying about having Merlin in his apartment about five seconds after suggesting it as their studying spot. When his weekly lunch with Leon came around that Saturday he had begged off to clean.

It had, of course, no effect as Leon still showed up at 11 and even after the two had gone over the place top to bottom it still looked about the same.

"Don't you have a cleaning lady?" Leon asked as he flicked a rogue curl out of his face. Arthur paused in his inspection of the oven to look at the older man.

Leon was actually shorter than Arthur but it always seemed like he was looking up at him, even when he wasn't on all fours with his head inside an oven.

A mane of curly dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail that stuck up on his head. He was lean, but lanky. A squashed in nose that was a mix of genetics and the aftermath of a rugby game in college.

Leon was a metaphorical giant despite his actual appearance.

"She comes on Wednesdays." Arthur turned his head back to the oven. After a moment of fidgeting with the door of said oven he stood up, hands slipping into his back pockets and eyes sweeping over the counter.

Leon smirked, "And you have someone coming over before then." Arthur's cheeks burned, but he nodded, "Someone you like."

"We're going to study," Arthur's head shot up, hands following quickly to gesture emphatically, "Math and English."

"Yeah, yeah," Leon waved him off, moving towards the bathroom to clean himself up, "It's not me or your sister, so I'mma count it as a step in the right direction."

Arthur frowned at the insinuation, "I socialize!"

"Professor's office hours don't count," Leon shot back, face dripping wet. After reaching for a hand towel to dry off he moved back into the main room, "Now, do you have time for lunch?"

Arthur looked at the clock, it was 1230. He looked at his desk, he needed to finish some worksheets for his econ class so he could do the last of his readings for English.

"We can order in, you can work on your homework while we wait." Leon clapped him on the shoulder when Arthur nodded. The worksheets went fairly fast with Leon's help and when the pizza arrived Arthur only had a few problems left.

"So how's living with Morgana?" Arthur queried before shoving an entire slice of meatlovers into his mouth.

Leon grinned, "Hectic and amazing, as advertised. She's only there half the time though. Uther's got her going to events with him."

"Morgana goes to political events?" Arthur would have choked on the pizza if he hadn't already swallowed it.

"And complains more than even you could imagine. She doesn't really agree with all things Conservative." Leon held up his glass of water across the table, "To being the younger child." Arthur laughed, but clinked his glass.

Leon's father was Labour and that fact was one of the major reasons neither father was privy to the relationship that most had considered a foregone conclusion by the time Leon and Morgana had entered primary school. The friendship alone had exacerbated a number of arguments and once led to a shouting match in the House of Lords.

"She's actually good at the political maneuvering," Leon added after a moment, "When she's motivated anyway."

"I wouldn't tell her that," Arthur smirked, knowing that any such similarity to their father would provoke an aggressive reaction.

Leon chuckled, "Do I look that dumb to you?" Arthur opened his mouth, a joke on the tip of his tongue, "Don't say it."

-.-.-

When Merlin stepped into Arthur's small flat many of his assumptions about the blond lordling shattered. For one it was a studio, the bed pushed up into a corner. Opposite was a kitchen so small it only qualified as such because it had an oven. There was a hot plate, but no stove.

Arthur's place definitely was not what Merlin imagined the only son of a powerful peer would be occupying.

It was, however, covered in stacks of books and binders, notebooks and scraps of paper. There were stacks by the bed, by the table, and in a semicircle in the center of the room. That was very much what Merlin expected from the perpetually caffeinating Arthur.

"There's coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks in the kitchen." Arthur paused for a moment, "I think Ana left some juice in there?" Merlin laughed at the scrunched up face Arthur made as he lowered himself back down into his altar of books.

"You do know too much caffeine can kill you right?" Merlin teased as he sat down in a spot in front of Arthur. A few open books between them.

"Technically," Arthur's response sounded more reflexive than defensive, "It can cause a heart attack. That's what could kill me."

Merlin smirked as he pulled his math textbook and his notebook out of his bag. As Arthur started reorganizing his stacks Merlin read some of the titles.

~Economic Theories and Arguments~  
~The Welfare State and Capitalism~  
~The Impact of American Literature on British Storytelling~  
~British Parliamentary Politics~

Yup. He was sticking to his chemistry and his calculus.

"So, math or Shakespeare first?" Merlin ventured with a smile. Arthur looked up, bright blue eyes that made Merlin a little breathless when they met his own brown.

There was a quick twist of displeasure before Arthur answered, "Math. I need the motivation to get through it."

Arthur stretched behind him to retrieve his math work. It was noticeably farther away than anything else.

He might have laughed, but Merlin was distracted by the way Arthur's shirt had ridden up his stomach while stretching. Blond hair only slightly darker than what covered Arthur's head was thinly dispersed over pale skin.

"I've found some useful sites on the web and I might actually have managed a decent understanding of last month's material." Arthur was already focused on the pages he was flipping through and thankfully didn't notice Merlin's gaze.

"And this week's chapter?"

"I speak Arabic and French, this is Greek to me." Arthur squinted down at the book, "Or Latin."

Merlin smiled as Arthur scratched the top of his head in a clichéd gesture, "Why don't we start with a few equations from last chapter, if you've really got that down this new stuff will be easier."

Half way through the first equation Merlin came to the understanding that Arthur did not have a handle on last month's material. He had, in fact, managed to teach himself the exact opposite of what they were learning. It was two hours before they started working on anything from the recent session.

The roles reversed after that and Merlin's sympathy for Arthur's math struggles evaporated in light of his own shortcomings in deciphering his own language.

"So, Shakespeare is suppose to be funny?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at Arthur.

There was a moment, a very long moment, before Arthur looked up from his tattered copy of Hamlet. His eyes were wide, passionate. The blue swirling like a whirlpool.

"Yes?" Merlin's laugh caught in his throat as he waited for Arthur to speak. The blond opened his mouth twice, words had yet to escape.

Finally, he just fell backwards onto the floor. An unintelligible noise came from the pile of lordling that reminded Merlin vaguely of a puppy, whining.

"Are you ok?" Merlin poked Arthur with his foot, "Should I read you a sonnet?" In the three hours he'd spent with Arthur his love of British Lit had become very, very clear.

"Do you actually know any sonnets?" Arthur's head perked up. Merlin smiled. The puppy analogy was holding up.

"If I picked a book at random I figure I've got a 67% chance it has one for me."

Arthur whined again, "Sonnets are meant to be recited, Merlin. Stop attacking my soul."

"Apologies, my lord," Merlin flounced dramatically onto the ground beside Arthur, "Nary a word shall pass through my lips while you pout on the floor."

"That was lame," Arthur turned his head to glare at Merlin. He couldn't catch his laugh this time. Arthur's lips twitched before he sat back up. Merlin took it as a win.

Arthur's primary expressions were overly-dramatic and noticeably false half the time. It made helping him with math a bit difficult - Merlin still wasn't positive Arthur understood the material to the degree he needed to – but it also made the moments of genuine humor that much more of a victory.

"Hamlet's more ironic than like 'haha' funny, but with historical context the humor is easier to identify," Arthur flipped through the pages to find a specific section.

He handed it to Merlin, who groaned as he sat up. Arthur was not the only one who liked sarcasm, "If you have to explain the joke then it's not that funny."

"I'm not a huge fan of Hamlet either, it's like my eighth favorite Shakespeare play." Arthur leaned back on his forearms as Merlin read, "Midsummer's Night Dream is the best, and Merchant of Vienna. Oh! Much Ado About Nothing! Fantastic wordplay in that one."

"Midsummer, that's… The one with the fairies?" Merlin wracked his brain, but he honestly couldn't even think of eight different Shakespeare plays.

Arthur's lip twitched again, "Yes, Merlin, the one with the fairies."

"Why are you taking a math class if you're so into literature?" Merlin asked as he re-read the passage for the third time without any clearer an idea what was happening.

"My father requested I take it," Arthur shrugged as he said, hands reaching for a pen as he looked at his planner. Merlin glanced up, surprised by the flat tone of Arthur's voice. His attention was on the planner though and he was chewing on the end of his pen.

Merlin glanced back to the pages - Arthur's handwriting littered the margins of his book. "So the witches are suppose to be like the three sisters of fate from Greek mythology?" Merlin enjoyed the way Arthur smirked at him.

"Did you figure that out or did you decipher my hand writing?"

"Pretty sure that's chicken scratch."

"Uh-huh," Arthur shook his head, "Shakespeare incorporated elements from history in a lot of his works - a way to bring it to life for the masses."

"Like Hamilton?" Merlin felt a lightbulb go off in his head, "Shakespeare did satirized versions of history right - there's a bunch of King Henry plays or whatever."

Arthur smiled, "That's a good comparison." He tapped the notebook beside Merlin, "You should use that for your paper."

"Hamilton is a musical though, did Shakespeare write musicals?" Merlin felt the lightbulb dim as Arthur shook his head.

"Don't compare them one to one. Compare the elements of the writing."

Merlin squinted at Arthur, "Does that mean I have to read Hamilton?" He groaned when Arthur nodded.

"It's that, or attending numerous performances of a specific Shakespeare play and Hamilton," Arthur grinned as Merlin rolled backwards into a ball. Sulking like a champ.

When Merlin popped back up, he did so exuberantly, landing several inches closer to Arthur and provoking a blush that spread over Arthur's face as quick as a hummingbird. Merlin smirked as Arthur looked anywhere but at him.

"Hey Arthur," Merlin scooched back, picking up the copy of Hamlet and then setting it back down, "What are you studying?" Arthur's face turned back to him, head tilted. "You know, you're degree?"

"Oh," Arthur shrugged, "Business and Poly Sci." The blush dulled as Arthur started fidgeting, flipping through the books all around him even as his eyes focused on the floor.

Merlin leaned forward, chin in his hand, "Really? I thought you'd be studying Literature or maybe, like, Philosophy." Merlin puckered his lip, watched Arthur shrug. "Why Business? Is it because of your family?"

"My family?" Arthur's head shot up. The blue whirlpools darkened as they focused on Merlin and gooseflesh spread down his spin.

"I may have googled you…"

Arthur's mouth fell open, but the scary focus dropped.

"You're Uther Pendragon's son, right?"

"Yeah," Arthur rolled his eyes, "You're not going to ask me about his voting record are you?"

Merlin scoffed, "I didn't know he was in the House of Lords before I read it on Wikipedia." Arthur's lip curled into a smile. "I think my step-dad has mentioned him before though. And Gaius."

"Professor Gaius?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, his hands stilled in his lap as he leaned forward, "He teaches Chemistry right?" Merlin straightened as his grin spread wide across his cheeks.

It was blinding.

"He's awesome!" Merlin nodded vigorously.

Arthur felt himself being pulled closer to Merlin as he rambled about his favorite professor, who had apparently been a friend of his mother's when she'd been at school. Merlin spoke with his hands as much as his lips, wild gestures that swung out and around.

It was not unlike being sucked into a gusting tornado.

"Anyway," Merlin shook his head, deflating back into his body, "He mentioned Pendragon as being a big contributor to the school." Merlin narrowed his eyes on Arthur with a smirk, "Do you really have a castle?"

The blush returned, with a vengeance and a rosy undertone.

Arthur stuttered out an affirmative, "It's not really a castle as much as it is a manor." Merlin's big blinding, face breaking smile somehow widened further. Arthur would have worried about the man's skin ripping apart if it wasn't so adorable.

Oh dear. The blush wasn't receding this time.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Reviews Appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur just had to go and fall in love with the worst possible person. Or the best. Depending on who's judging. Either way, Arthur's in trouble.

Rated T. Exists in the same universe as The Lady and Her Lion.

* * *

"Arthur!" Merlin's voice floated over the mass of students that separated the man from where Arthur sat at a lunch table between classes. It was Thursday- the one and only day in which he had time to sit while eating his banana and drinking his coffee.

Both received an eyebrow raise and a frown when Merlin emerged from the rushing sea with nary a hair out of place and red scarf wrapped around his neck. Arthur smiled when the other man took a seat.

"Thought that was you," Merlin turned his own smile on the blond, "Almost didn't recognize you without the sour 'where's my coffee' face."

Arthur rolled his eyes, sipped his mocha frappuccino, "This is mostly sugar." Merlin narrowed his eyes. "I only asked for one shot of espresso."

Merlin laughed, shaking his head as he began to unwrap a sandwich. Arthur took the moment to appreciate the man's aesthetic - the tight jeans and knitted cardigans. The red scarf was practically a symbol he wore it so much.

Not that Arthur complained - out loud or otherwise. The red always brought our the gold in Merlin's eyes. Which were heavily ringed today - dark circles had appeared between their classes on Tuesday and the present.

"How's your week going?" Arthur looked over at the coffee cart to appear nonchalant. He only looked over when Merlin sighed, heavily.

The welshman had plopped his head down on folded arms, shoving his sandwich several inches away.

Arthur paused mid-sip, "That doesn't sound good."

Merlin's head popped up, arms spreading wide as he spoke. "My father is just so frustrating! I pulled an all-nighter finishing my lab so I could meet him for breakfast before class, and he didn't even show up!"

"Wow," Arthur set his coffee down, face souring. Uther had never missed anything with him - sure he made snide comments about being far too busy for frivolous activities, but he still came.

"I know!" Merlin's hand slammed back on to the table, "He only sent a text after I called. Some BS about his publisher." Merlin frowned, crossing his arms, "Even Cedric gives better excuses than that."

Arthur pushed Merlin's sandwich back towards him, "Eat, you'll feel better." The frown cracked and Arthur relished in the widening cheeks. Once Merlin picked up his lunch Arthur grabbed his coffee back up.

"Worse thing is, my mom's already asked how the breakfast went," Merlin shook his head as he bit into the ham and cheese on rye. Arthur arched an eyebrow. "She was the one who encouraged me to come here, try to 'build a relationship with …'"

"How would coming here do that?" Arthur tilted his head, brow furrowing, "Does he live in London?"

Merlin swallowed. Arthur's eyes darted down to his bobbing Adam' apple. "He's a professor here." Arthur looked back to Merlin's eyes, which were focused and narrowed on the table.

"Professor of literature?" Arthur guessed. Merlin nodded. "Wait..." Arthur wracked his brain for the professors he knew. "...Professor Balinor?"

"Yup!" Merlin popped his 'p' and then took another massive bite of his sandwich.

Arthur sucked his cheeks in, "He gave me a B last semester."

"And survived?" Merlin quirked an eyebrow. Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm honestly surprised you haven't dropped dead from over-academic-exertion."

Arthur pressed his palm to his heart, "I'm offended you think such a thing could exist!" Merlin's lips split into a laugh this time. Arthur nodded his approval.

"It's just discouraging," Merlin shrugged as he continued to eat. "I think Mordred sees my father more than I do at this point - and he's studying history!" Arthur racked his brain at the new name.

"…Mordred?"

Merlin looked over at Arthur. A teeth-rottening grin appeared at the scrunched up face Arthur was making, "My step-brother. Cedric's son."

"Oh yeah!" Arthur did recall the mention of a step-brother, it had been jammed in with the description of his younger siblings. "Your family tree is very confusing."

This time Merlin pressed a palm to his chest, "We're a modern family, Arthur, don't judge." Arthur smiled as Merlin's face twitched, unable to hold the serious expression for long. "Okay, judge, but only Cedric. I don't like him anyway."

"I'm fairly positive the term is 'blended family,' but as I come from a textbook traditional family I'm probably not the best source for information."

Merlin chuckled again, "Probably not. Though I think you might be more Victorian than traditional." Arthur scrunched up his eyebrows.

"Are you referring to my widower father or my spinster aunt?"

"You have a spinster aunt?" Merlin paused mid-bite. "Google didn't mention an aunt."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Google doesn't know everything, Merlin." Merlin snorted. "Okay, wikipedia doesn't know everything. And Morgause likes to keep a low profile."

"I don't know too much about literature, but that sounds very Austen-y." Merlin talked through his last bit of sandwich.

"You're not wrong." Arthur swirled his empty coffee cup around. "She'd deck you for such a statement though. She's a Bronte fan."

They both stood up. Arthur hesitated for moment before throwing his trash away.

"See you Sunday?" Arthur asked as he turned to leave. Merlin hit him with one of his megawatt smiles and a nod.

Arthur spent most of his next lecture writing couplets and ignoring the professor's ramblings about parliamentary ethics.

-.-.-

"Stop humming!" Mordred threw his pillow across the room. Merlin merely side-stepped. "It's 8am, on a Saturday!" Mordred burrowed into his mattress, muttering to himself about room re-assignments.

"You're suppose to be at your rugby match in an hour anyway." Merlin dropped Mordred's pillow on his head, "And I did warn you not to room with me your freshman year."

Mordred shoved the pillow back under his head, "There's buzzkills and then there's you, Merlin."

Chuckling, Merlin yanked the blanket from the younger man's body, "I take my responsibilities as your older brother very seriously." Mordred scowled. "When it suits me anyway."

The pillow hit the door this time as Merlin ducked out with his bag. He hummed all the way to the corner coffee shop by Arthur's place. As expected at this early hour, Arthur was already in line with his nose in a book.

Mission successful.

"Thought I might catch you here!" Merlin relished the little jump Arthur did. He caught his book before it slipped from his hand and then looked at Merlin with furrowed brows. "I'm meeting Gaius for breakfast."

And there was no way he was passing up the chance to see Arthur in his natural habitat.

"Oh." Arthur's face smoothed out and his head quirked to the side. "I didn't know they served food here."

Merlin stiffled a laugh, "That does not shock me."

Arthur's head snapped to menu above the register. Merlin took the opportunity to check the blond out. He was slimmer than he'd been at the beginning of the semester and Merlin's smile dipped.

"You should get one of the croissants," Merlin suggested, pointing out his favorite sausage and egg filled cornucopia. Arthur quirked his head the other way.

"Alright."

At the counter the barista froze when Arthur ordered food. Merlin didn't stiffle his laugh this time.

"You could at least fake some sympathy." Arthur nudged Merlin's side as he order his own sandwich, with soup and fruit on the side.

"How long have you been coming to this coffee shop exactly?" Merlin raised a brow at Arthur's blush.

"Point taken."

They waited beside the counter for their food. The barista handed Arthur his coffee within a minute.

"Let me know if you need a refill before you go." The barista smiled at him and Arthur nodded his thanks before tipping his head back to guzzle half the over large cup.

Merlin exchanged a look with the barista - equal parts exasperation and fondness.

"Merlin!" Gaius stood at the doorway. Merlin's face split in a smile and waved him over. Gaius nodded his head to Arthur, "Mr. Pendragon."

Arthur's smile was tight, "Professor." Merlin eyed the tension in Arthur's shoulders as it appeared. How Gaius could make anyone nervous was beyond Merlin's comprehension.

"Merlin mentioned you were tutoring him for his English class?" Gaius shook his head, "You must be incredibly patient."

"Hey!" Merlin narrowed his eyes, "I'm not that bad!"

Arthur took another sip of his coffee. Gaius studied the menu with great focus. Merlin huffed. Traitors.

"You're not nearly so hopeless as I am in math," Arthur offered up, finally. Merlin rolled his eyes. He had a retort all ready, but the barista interrupted with Arthur's food, and another coffee.

"Have a good morning!"

Gaius looked from the new coffee to Arthur's hands. He drained his first one and threw it into the bin. Arthur smiled and waved goodbye as if there was nothing out of the ordinary when he immediately started sipping on the second.

"Does he realize drinking two of those in quick succession isn't healthy?"

"Yes." "Yes."

Merlin traded another look with the barista as Gaius ordered his own breakfast. He glanced down to her nametag.

"Tell me, Freya," Merlin leaned on the counter as she worked on Gaius' frappuccino, "How often does our mutual friend come in here?"

She snorted, "I only work weekends and I see him at least four times." She handed Gaius his drink and leaned over to whisper, "We're suppose to charge for refills and seconds, but he tips triple the rate even when he comes in twice so our manager lets it slide."

Merlin nodded. He could see that. Arthur'd stuck a 50 pound note in the tip jar along with the change from his 20 for breakfast.

"I do wonder how much his weekly budget goes towards coffee, or caffeine in general." Merlin pondered aloud as he and Gaius took their seats.

Gaius raised a wrinkled brow, "Arthur Pendragon?" He scoffed. "If the rumors are true, I'd expect a large portion."

"What rumors?" Merlin perked up. Gaius paused mid-bite to aim a suspicious gaze at his godson. Merlin stayed wide-eyed and expectant.

"The administration made exceptions," Gaius gave in with a sigh, "so that Uther's son could take an 'enhanced' workload."

Merlin had never seen Gaius use finger quotes. It threw him off. He almost didn't catch the next sentence.

"- how the boy's avoided mental exhaustion at this point, let alone physical exhaustion."

"Gaius…" Merlin frowned, "Just what does enhanced mean?"

"Nearly double the allowed credits." Gaius raised a finger. "According to my friend in the registration office."

Merlin slumped back in his chair. His mind whirled. Both the classes they shared had heavy reading requirements. And he'd seen glimpses of Arthur's planner…

"Gaius…"

The answer tone was low and warning, "Merlin…"

"I don't suppose you know Arthur's sister?"

Gaius heaved a sigh. "She came here for one semester."

-.-.-

"You have food!"

Arthur glowered at Gwain as the scruffy man pointed at him with eyes wide in shock. He knew there was a reason he didn't come to rugby very often.

"Be nice, Gwaine," Lancelot didn't look up from his phone as he walked over. Arthur appreciated the kick he aimed at Gwain's ankles though.

Gwaine pouted, but he turned it towards his boyfriend so Arthur didn't much care. And given Percy's blank expression, Gwaine wasn't making much progress there either.

"Where's Leon?" Arthur took a seat in the grass. The open field of the park was oddly empty for a Saturday morning. Leon and his friends had a standing monthly game, but Arthur - and more importantly, Gwaine - never arrived first.

Lance was there, his brother-in-law Elyan, Gwaine and Percy. Bors and Belvedere were absent too. Maybe Arthur really was early…

"He's late," Gwen supplied as Arthur checked his watch. "He said he wanted to make sure the new recruit didn't get lost."

"Makes sense," Arthur leaned back against a tree as he pulled a notebook from his bag. Gwen peeked over his shoulder as he doodled some couplets.

Gwen plopped down immediately and leaned in close. "So...who's got molten sunsets for eyes?" Arthur's cheeks flushed.

He was saved from having to answer by the arrival of Leon and a scrawny kid with fluffy hair. "Sorry I'm late, Mordred here can't tell time."

"Can too," Mordred grumbled before his jaw nearly came unhinged with a yawn.

Arthur snorted, "You might want to open your eyes." Green eyes fluttered open and Mordred's face scrunched under the glare of the sun. "There ya go."

There was more blinking and grumbling before Mordred's eyes actually focused on anyone. Something Gwaine was far too amused by, given the grin he was sporting.

"Wait. I know you." Mordred was now squinting at Arthur, arms crossed. "You look significantly more like a raccoon than I expected."

Even Lance chortled at that one. Arthur didn't bother to scowl at Leon or his friends. He merely rolled his eyes. "You're Merlin's brother then?" Mordred eyes narrowed slightly. "I told him not to trust wikipedia. The photos on there are from primary school days."

"Yeah!" Gwaine settled an arm over Mordred's shoulders, "Arthur didn't earn his raccoon circles till he passed his A-levels."

"Ha!" Elyan huffed, hands on his hips, "He was born with them. I'm certain of that."

Arthur did scowl at them now. Especially since Leon was typing on his phone furiously. And Mordred was grinning, eyes alert and twinkling.

* * *

Review Appreciated!


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